Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

See, Randy knows

And somebody needs to show that guy how to play a guitar. Sure he had a cool Vox Teardrop, but he wore it so high in his chest that he kept bumping his chin on it. Let the strap out a little bit guy! I think I saw him play two chords...

OK, now I'm done ranting about Coldplay. Just don't get me started on 'jam bands' like Phish and String Cheese Incident!

It's the lame music & out of tune singing that bugs me. Oh yeah, & the fact that they're on AM radio ALL DAY LONG! UGH!
Meanwhile people with real talent starve.
I guess my taste doesn't lie within the mainstream. Give me Tom Waits instead. At least he's original.

I am a bit hungry.
Just kidding.

Course Barry Manilow's new CD is all '50's covers. I've heard his version of the Everly's "All I Have To Do Is Dream". What in tarnation?

But maybe the tarnation award goes to Paul Anka for doing big band versions of rock songs including Van Halen and Nirvana.

Jerry: I was blissfully unaware of the musical atrocities that you've described. Now let me go back to my happy place...

Denial is the best policy here..."it never happened...I didn't really hear that..."

Sorry.

Egads....

There are so many lame songs and bands that get lots and lots of radio play.... I have a feeling that it has less to do with talent, and more to do with money.... I quit listening to pop radio years ago, because I just coudn't stand the stuff any more.

Only a feeling, Melissa?

I've had a conviction for the last thirty years. But it's been going along since somebody coined the term "press agent" and hung out a shingle.

Don't get me started on jam bands, either. I live in Grateful Dead territory, and their influences are still in the air...

Radio? How about MTV?..
(kiddin', of course...)

Paul: I'm pretty open-minded about music, but I don't understand The Grateful Dead. Of course everybody says that's because you need to be in a state of 'altered consciousness' to fully appreciate them. Well, I used to 'do reality very few favors', and The Grateful Dead still weren't worth listening to. I've got wide-ranging musical tastes that go from the British Invasion to industrial/noise, and punk/new wave to folk rock, but I just don't understand that band.

That's all cool, Randy...as long as you keep in mind that there are plenty of people who just don't understand industrial/noise, punk/new wave, folk rock, the British Invasion, or anything else you want to name. That's why they make some red cars and some blue cars...

I get pegged all the time as a 'Deadhead' because of my appearance...which is dumb*ss, I must say. I don't mind the Dead, but I've never been any kind of huge fan...I do acknowledge their contribution to modern music and recording, and admire their political stances and work ethic. I kind of like "China Cat Sunflower", too.

I do think you need to be in a state of 'altered consciousness' to fully appreciate anything in this world...and before anyone jumps me for this, the caveat: there are a million ways to alter your consciousness, some of them as simple as dropping your meaningless material pursuits for a moment, sitting under a tree and feeling yourself breathe...

And that's my latest dispatch from 'Tarnation'...

Ah! good old Gerry Garcia. He's dead and people are still talking about him. What's there to try and understand? You are either a "dead head" or you're not. Their music IMHO was/is not necessarily all that great but apparently their concerts were like a giant party. Many attendees followed them from city to city with little regard for anything else but the experience itself.

I am not a fan but I know a few people who are. BTW not all "dead heads" have long hair, beards and/or moustaches. That is a myth. People should never judge a book by its cover. Right Dane?

Here's what Bob Dylan had to say about Gerrys passing back in 1995.

"There's no way to measure his greatness or magnitude as a person or as a player. I don't think eulogizing will do him justice. He was that great - much more than a superb musician with an uncanny ear and dexterity. He is the very spirit personified of whatever is muddy river country at its core and screams up into the spheres. He really had no equal. To me he wasn't only a musician and friend, he was more like a big brother who taught and showed me more than he'll ever know. There are a lot of spaces and advances between the Carter Family, Buddy Holly and, say, Ornette Coleman, a lot of universes, but he filled them all without being a member of any school. His playing was moody, awesome, sophisticated, hypnotic and subtle. There's no way to convey the loss. It just digs down really deep." - Bob Dylan

Obviously Bob liked him.

I'm a big fan of the Grateful Dead though I wouldn't consider myself a Dead head. That said, they have a lot of tunes that just don't have it. To me , they were a hot and cold band - when they were on, they were really on but they could also be "off" more than their fair share. And, they definitely were a live band. For example, if you listen to the tune Cumberland Blues on Workingman's Dead, it's flat and lifeless. Some of the bootlegs I've heard (including the live recording on the easily accessible compilation CD What A Long Strange Trip It's Been), it oozes energy and vitality.

Unfortunately, I only got to see them once live, in the mid 80s - they were playing with Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Still, the best concert I ever attended. If memory serves correct (and I can't be certain of this!), the Dead did an incredibly short show and then proceeded to come on and do, like a 3 hour encore. IT was brilliant.